This invention relates to submillimeter wave and far infrared molecular lasers and molecular laser amplifiers.
The region of the spectrum between roughly 3 millimeters wavelength and 30 micrometers wavelength, hereafter called the submillimeter portion, has been relatively inaccessible for experimentation with coherent radiation except for the optically pumped molecular lasers disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,174 on Dec. 14, 1971 to T. J. Bridges and one of the present inventors, Tao-Yuan Chang.
The usefulness of such sources throughout the submillimeter wave range depends in part upon the power and efficiency of the laser transitions that can be utilized. Particularly for the weaker transitions that have been discovered in this region of the spectrum, it would be useful to increase the power and efficiency of the laser operation on such transitions.